This invention relates to an automated tube handling device for laboratory tubes and other cylindrical vessels typically processed in a laboratory or medical facility, and in particular, the invention relates to a laboratory tube printer and labeler.
The laboratory tube printer and labeler is designed to cooperate with an automated robotic tube processor that has a robotically controlled pickup and placement mechanism that can deliver a laboratory tube, vial, bottle or other relatively small vessel commonly processed in batches with individual control numbers or bar codes such that for each tube labeled, a different label print marking may be required.
This requirement complicates the label printing and label applying process, particularly when the apparatus for printing the label and labeling the tube is desired as an auxiliary component to the automated robotic tube processing apparatus. In such instance the station where the tube is deposited by the pickup and placement mechanism must be located within the field of access of the robotic device to facilitate automation.
The laboratory tube printer and labeler of this invention is designed to accommodate many robotic tube handling devices by presenting the deposit and pickup station at a location for convenient access by the robotic pickup and placement mechanism of an associated automated tube handler. Additionally, the laboratory tube printer and labeler is designed to accommodate both batch processing of identical printed and applied labels as well as those circumstances where each label is differently marked. Furthermore, the design is sufficiently flexible that tubes of different sizes within a range can be labeled with printed labels.